SBIR Phase I: Ultra Low-Cost Manufacturing Thermoelectric Module

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是提供低成本的热电模块，这些模块可以以允许它们用于各种废热应用的价格出售。世界上生产的所有能源的三分之二作为余热损失，一个低成本的热电模块将使回收部分能源作为电力在经济上是可行的。回收美国的余热将减少污染、温室气体和我们对外国石油的依赖。在发展中国家回收余热将使许多家庭有史以来第一次获得负担得起的电力。几瓦的电力将提供照明和为手机充电的能力。一些产品可以使用低成本的热电来发电或自我供电，例如炉子、热水器、燃烧木材的炉子和壁炉、太空食用器、发动机加热器和其他工业加热器。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目建议通过减少模块中使用的昂贵碲化铋的数量来降低热电模块的成本。使用较小的元素可以减少碲化铋的使用量，但使用较小的元素会使热膨胀差异、高热通量和大电流通量的影响更加明显。这项建议描述了如何更好地理解这些影响，并提出了几种可以将其降至最低的方法。建议的方法包括用柔性部件替换一些刚性部件，并加入能够适应热膨胀差异的功能。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be in the availability of low cost thermoelectric modules that can be sold at a price that will allow them to be used in a wide variety of waste heat applications. Two thirds of all of the energy produced in the world is lost as waste heat and a low cost thermoelectric module will make it economically viable to recover a portion of this energy as electricity. Recovering waste heat in America will reduce pollution, greenhouse gasses and our dependence on foreign oil. Recovering waste heat in developing nations will make affordable electricity available to many families for the first time ever. A few watts of electricity will provide lighting and the ability to charge cell phones. Examples of some products that can use low cost thermo electrics to generator electricity or to be self- powered are furnaces, water heaters, wood burning stoves and fireplaces, space eaters, engine heaters and other industrial heaters. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to reduce the cost of the thermoelectric module by reducing the amount of the expensive bismuth telluride used in the module. The amount of bismuth telluride used is reduced by using smaller elements but using smaller elements makes the effects of thermal expansion differences, high heat flux and high current fluxes more pronounced. This proposal describes how these effects can be better understood and proposes several methods that can minimize them. Proposed methods include replacing some rigid components with flexible ones and to build in features that will accommodate thermal expansion differences.